In their bare form, drainage catheters are known and may be applied in a number of scenarios. For example, drainage catheters may be employed to drain urine from the kidney or bladder, to collect fluid from, e.g., an abscess, a cavity, or the like. Catheters are also known for the administration of intravenous fluids, as well as anesthetics, contrast media, and the like.
Advancements in drainage catheters have also been seen, e.g., in the area of increasing visibility of the catheter. For example, in US PGP 2010/0317963, a catheter is shown having a dimpled region to enhance the echogenecity of a region, and further discloses ribs, ridges, etc., for the same purpose. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,831, spherical indentations 905 are employed to scatter a sonic beam to produce a component of an image. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,752, indentations are also used as ultrasonically-reflective features. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,997, partially-spherical indentations are also employed to scatter sonic beams. In US PGP 2008/0097213, various components are disclosed for enhancing detection under ultrasound or MRI. In US PGP 2012/0095404, various components are described which are alleged to enhance echogenicity. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,856, ways of increasing the ultrasonic visibility of a needle are disclosed, including the formation of dimples or using etching on the surface. In US PGP 2013/0190609, structures for enhancing echogenicity are disclosed, including dimpling in various patterns, including in stripes. In US PGP 2006/0247530, a catheter is disclosed having a lumen and an echogenic surface. In another implementation, the I-FLOW® products from Kimberly-Clark in some cases incorporate micro laser etching to improve reflection. Certain products from Braun include needles enhanced with laser-crafted ultrasound reflectors. Certain products from Pajunk® are alleged to provide 100% reflection under ultrasound monitoring. Finally, in a paper entitled “Chorionic Villi Sampling With An Echogenic Catheter: Experiences Of The First 500 Cases”, Wolfgang Holzgreve and Peter Minya disclose the use of an echo reflecting stripe in the wall of a catheter.
However, all of the above are associated with various disadvantages. In particular, while each includes certain ways to enhance visibility, each still relies significantly on the skill of the physician or other medical professional to deploy the catheter in a proper position and use the same.
This Background is provided to introduce a brief context for the Summary and Detailed Description that follow. This Background is not intended to be an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter nor be viewed as limiting the claimed subject matter to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages or problems presented above.